It was a clash of images on Sunday in St. Paul, MN when a local man, Tuan Pham, awoke to see his beloved, custom-made Jesus statue in flames. According to family, someone took wood from a nearby pile and used a spray can to ignite a fire at the base of Pham’s 7-foot ode to Christ. It’s statue that has been controversial from the beginning:

It may have burned for awhile; Pham’s daughter took pictures of her father trying to knock down the flames. Fire investigators were going over the garden a few hours later. If they find evidence of arson, they are expected pass the case on to police.

“It pains me, it’s very upsetting. This means a lot to him. This is where he finds joy and where he spends a lot of his time,” Phan said about his retired father-in-law.

The statue took months to ship. It is a replica of a massive one Pham helped build more than 40 years ago in his hometown of Vung Tau, Vietnam. Pham says he was jailed for his catholic beliefs before he fled the country for Minnesota.

The statue was put in place last October and a month later, Phan says, the city received a complaint about it. The family requested a variance after officials found it was not the required 40 feet from the bluff line, but that request was denied by the city council a few days before the fire.

The family wonders if the fire was racially or religiously motivated, wondering why someone would try to burn marble; guessing it was merely meant to send a message. “Why does somebody need to go this far?” Phan wondered.

Top Opinion

A crime is a crime. And this is definitely a crime. Heaven only knows why someone would do this, but it was probably a radical Muslim. I cannot imagine who else would want to burn a beautiful piece of art depicting Jesus. And Minneapolis-St. Paul has a heavy Muslim population that is trying to force their lifestyle on Minnesotans.

Someone took the time to file a complaint with the city and drag this man to court over his statue, I would say that whatever motivated the complaint,motivated the crime. I would be looking into who filed the complaint.

I chose none of the above only because "Hate" crimes on the books shouldn't even exist. They are the libs way of taking equality out of the equation when it comes to crime and punishment.. Brilliant. However this incident is indeed just another attack on Christianity. They just "Hate" it that America is predominately a Christian nation. I somewhat revel in their hate as no act they commit will ever change that fact. These pitiful buffoons just refuse to get it. God bless America.

The liberals that tirelessly defend the 'victimised' Athiest and muzlims will no doubt call this freedom of speech as they do flag burning but if you want to see 'hate crimes' watch the aftermath from burning a statue of mohammed.

How sad. This man left a place where he was persecuted for being a Catholic, and comes here. We will allow men who rape their wives under the pretense of religion to go free, but someone here can't have a piece of artwork they helped create?

Did anyone else find it hysterical that the wood was moved to the statue, and a spray can was used as an accelerant, and that IF there is evidence of arson, they police will investigate? WTF?

Could be motivated by religion, which I believe a muslim would more than likely be the culprit given the intolerantness of the same freedoms they enjoy, but it also could be motivated by religion from homosexuals or starving artists.

I hope they find the person that did this and they receive whatever maximum penalty one can get for trespassing and destruction of property. Whatever it is will never repay the emotional damage they did. We're in such a moral decline as a nation.

Since the crime was against a Jesus statue I would tend to think it is a religious-natured crime.

Let's see.....would a Buddhist burn it? No, don't think so. Would a Baptist burn it? No, don't think so. Would a Mormon burn it? No, don't think so. So.....what type of "religious" group might want to destroy a statue of Jesus? Maybe the same ones with the mentality who destroyed two ancient irreplaceable pieces of art, the Buddhist stone sculptures of Afghanistan. Hmmmmm......who could that be now?

A crime is a crime. And this is definitely a crime. Heaven only knows why someone would do this, but it was probably a radical Muslim. I cannot imagine who else would want to burn a beautiful piece of art depicting Jesus. And Minneapolis-St. Paul has a heavy Muslim population that is trying to force their lifestyle on Minnesotans.

Size of Twin Cities Muslim population difficult to determine ...For example, the State of Minnesota puts the number of Somalis at 14000-15000 statewide, with the majority located in Minneapolis.In the Twin Cities, where the numbers range from approximately 20,000-130,000, a narrower range of 70,000-80,000 might be more realistic.http://www.minneapolisfed.org...